Ruination (Worlds Apart #1)
by Amanda Thome
Release Date: 04/15/14

Summary from Goodreads:
What if everything came down to a single test? If your life was defined at seventeen, could you handle it? Could you accept your fate leaving the ones you love, or would you risk it all and stay?

One test stands between Vanessa and Central. One chance to make the leap across the walls to a better life. At seventeen, Central considers Vanessa an adult. Her labor role, marriage, and housing divisions will be dictated by her performance on the leap.

Dedication and unfaltering friendship has bonded Vanessa to Garrett as they fight for their chance to leap into Central. But what happens when love overtakes reason? When defiance in the name of love creates an unintentional fracture in their nation.

Without warning Vanessa is at the mercy of the nation that’s supposed to protect her. Exiled and abandoned she must fight but she find’s she’s not alone. With her heart divided she seeks her revenge, but will her stand be enough?

Ruination is the next YA dystopian trilogy that will hook you from the start! If you liked Veronica Roth’s Divergent series or Suzanne Collins Hunger Games series then be prepared to get addicted to Ruination.

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Excerpts:

1:
It’s only a fraction of a second but in that moment I see the life leave his eyes. I realize the gravity of what I’ve done. I’ve just killed a man. I killed someone’s son, maybe some-one’s father.
The gunfire to my left closes in and snaps me back to reality. I string the second arrow. I have a clear shot but I can’t take it. I won’t take another life even if it means dying.
Suddenly a veil of absolute darkness falls over me and my body feels like it’s plunged into an icy bath. My ears strain to hear but I no longer perceive the sound of gunshots from the foreigners.

2:
The regulator nestles his gun to his shoulder as I hear the tick of metal snapping. My breath quickens as I imagine them shooting me on the spot.
“Come on out. We know you’re in there!” The regulator hisses. “We might even go easy on you if you turn yourself in.”
I swallow and feel my throat closing-in out of fear. My chest tightens like my breastbone’s being squeezed in a vice. It extends outwards along my ribs towards my arms and tingles unpleasantly as I fight the terror. Squeezing chest and sweating arms are all I can think about as I crawl the last foot towards the boulder. My knee jams into a jagged rock and I gasp in pain. The lights land across my back and hold steady.
“Got ya!” The regulator shouts.
Their lights feel hot against the back of my neck. What should I do? Do I stay where I am and let them punish me, or maybe I should just stand up and run? What if they shoot me like Garrett’s fox? I tremor as their steps close-in the last few feet. With each closing step my chest tightens more and more until it feels like my heart’s about to burst my chest wide open. What would happen then? Would Central send a hovercraft to scoop up my lifeless body in the morning I wonder?

3:
Another whip of thunder cracks and my entire hilltop quakes. The bolt strikes down in the middle of my field. The thirsty land’s no match for the fiery energy. Within seconds the field’s ablaze.
Bright orange walls of fire extend, consuming everything in its path. The gusting winds carry embers of light scattering them all around me. I leap to my feet sprinting to the closest fire. I stomp out the wall that formed along my dandelion field.
Intense heat attaches to my back and dances along my spine. There’s a wall of orange against my shelter. My home, my everything’s about to be destroyed. I run uphill, choking from the assault. Smoke creeps its way into every crevice of my lungs. My eyes water and burn and my throat and chest constrict.
I should leave and run away but I can’t, I have to fight for my home. I stumble to my shelter grabbing armfuls of dirt, desperately throwing them onto the encroaching wall. I’m fighting a losing battle but I don’t care. I fling armful after armful of dirt but the wall continues growing.
I can’t win, I have to surrender, I see it now. I backpedal past my shelter as another wall of heat scorches me. I’m surrounded. Smoke and heat blanket me and I can’t see past the thick barrier of grey ash. My throat constricts and I hear a sick wheezing from my chest. My legs buckle and I collapse.

Character Profile:

Name: Ty (Tyler) Jackson

Age: 17

Appearance: Tall, fair skin, sharp green eyes, wavy dark hair, straight and perfect smile, deep and commanding voice

Likes:
> Swimming: Prefers oceans however as of late he is landlocked thanks to the government’s walls that corral him in.
>Fishing: Spear fishing, it takes more skill and he looks good doing it!
>Combat: Likes hand-to-hand but much prefers explosives and heavy weapons (he is a guy after all)
>Nessa: Why else would he risk his life, leave his family, and start a war?

Dislikes:
> Garrett: Or anyone that tries to take Nessa from him.
> Fire: It’s no surprise considering his near-death experience with it.
>The idea of the leap: If it wasn’t for Nessa he wouldn’t have tried to make the leap, before she came into his life the leap was just a waste of time.
>Borgs: The regulators that patrol the sectors and uphold the government’s laws.

Personality:
Ty grew up in the Outer sector, in what his nation considers the least desirable sectors. Despite his disadvantaged life Ty was content with his life in the Outer, he loved his family, friends and the crisp ocean water that bordered his home. That’s until he had a premonition, just one of many he’d had before, except this vision changed his life forever. The premonition showed him Nessa and within a matter of minutes Ty’s life was changed completely. His true personality began showing as he dedicated years of sleepless nights searching for her, studying for the leap and staying loyal and true in the name of unfaltering love for Nessa.

Buy Links:

Amazon│Barnes & Noble│

About the Author

Amanda Thome is the Author of Ruination, book one in the Worlds Apart dystopian trilogy. Amanda grew up in Maine and later moved to Pennsylvania where she obtained her bachelor’s degree from Ursinus College. She later received her doctorate degree in Physical Therapy from Columbia University. Amanda currently resides in San Antonio, TX with her husband Clint.

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

GIVEAWAY:
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YA Bound Book Tours

Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold (Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency #1)

by Iain Reading (Goodreads Author)

Book Synopsis(Goodreads):

Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold is a perfect book to fire the imagination of readers of all ages. Filled with fascinating and highly Google-able locations and history this book will inspire anyone to learn and experience more for themselves as Kitty prepares for her next adventure – flying around the world!

There are currently four books in the Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency Series available for sale on Amazon:  Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold, Kitty Hawk and the Hunt for Hemingway’s Ghost, Kitty Hawk and the Icelandic Intrigue, and Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the RMS Titanic.

Here is an excerpt from the book:

Prologue
Back Where The Entire Adventure Began
As soon as the engine began to sputter, I knew that I was in real trouble. Up until then, I had somehow managed to convince myself that there was just something wrong with the fuel gauges. After all, how could I possibly have burnt through my remaining fuel as quickly as the gauges seemed to indicate? It simply wasn’t possible. But with the engine choking and gasping, clinging to life on the last fumes of aviation fuel, it was clear that when the fuel gauges read, “Empty,” they weren’t kidding around.
The lightning strike that took out my radio and direction-finding gear hadn’t worried me all that much. (Okay, I admit it worried me a little bit.) It wasn’t the first time that this had happened to me, and besides, I still had my compasses to direct me to where I was going. But I did get a little bit concerned when I found nothing but open ocean as far my eyes could see at precisely the location where I fully expected to find tiny Howland Island—and its supply of fuel for the next leg of my journey—waiting for me. The rapidly descending needles on my fuel gauges made me even more nervous as I continued to scout for the island, but only when the engine began to die did I realize that I really had a serious problem on my hands.
The mystery of the disappearing fuel.
The enigma of the missing island.
The conundrum of what do I do now?
“Exactly,” the little voice inside my head said to me in one of those annoying ‘I-told-you-so’ kind of voices. “What do you do now?”
“First, I am going to stay calm,” I replied. “And think this through.”
“You’d better think fast,” the little voice said, and I could almost hear it tapping on the face of a tiny wristwatch somewhere up there in my psyche. “If you want to make it to your twentieth birthday, that is. Don’t forget that you’re almost out of fuel.”
“Thanks a lot,” I replied. “You’re a big help.”
Easing forward with the control wheel I pushed my trusty De Havilland Beaver into a nosedive. Residual fuel from the custom-made fuel tanks at the back of the passenger cabin dutifully followed the laws of gravity and spilled forward, accumulating at the front and allowing the fuel pumps to transfer the last remaining drops of fuel into the main forward belly tank. This maneuver breathed life back into the engine and bought me a few more precious minutes to ponder my situation.
“Mayday, mayday, mayday,” I said, keying my radio transmitter as I leveled my flight path out again. “This is aircraft Charlie Foxtrot Kilo Tango Yankee, calling any ground station or vessel hearing this message, over.”
I keyed the mic off and listened intently for a reply. Any reply. Please? But there was nothing. There was barely even static. My radio was definitely fried.
It was hard to believe that it would all come down to this. After the months of preparation and training. After all the adventures that I’d had, the friends I’d made, the beauty I’d experienced, the differences and similarities I’d discovered from one culture to the next and from one human being to the next. All of this in the course of my epic flight around the entire world.
Or I should say, “my epic flight almost around the entire world,” in light of my current situation.
And the irony of it was absolutely incredible. Three-quarters of a century earlier the most famous female pilot of them all had disappeared over this exact same endless patch of Pacific Ocean on her own quest to circle the globe. And she had disappeared while searching for precisely the same island that was also eluding me as I scanned the horizon with increasing desperation.
“Okay,” I thought to myself. “Just be cool and take this one step at a time to think the situation through.” I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, slowing it down and reining in the impulse to panic. Inside my head, I quickly and methodically replayed every flight that I’d ever flown. Every emergency I’d ever faced. Every grain of experience that I had accumulated along the long road that had led me to this very moment. Somewhere in there was a detail that was the solution to my current predicament. I was sure of it. And all I had to do was find it.
Maybe the answer to my current situation lay somewhere among the ancient temples of Angkor in Cambodia? Or in the steamy jungles of east Africa? Or inside the towering pyramids of Giza? Or among the soaring minarets of Sarajevo? Or on the emerald rolling hills and cliffs of western Ireland? Or on the harsh and rocky lava fields of Iceland?
Wherever the answer was, it was going to have to materialize quickly, or another female pilot (me) would run the risk of being as well-known throughout the world as Amelia Earhart. And for exactly the same reason.
“It’s been a good run at least,” the little voice inside my head observed, turning oddly philosophical as the fuel supplies ran critically low. “You’ve had more experiences on this journey around the world than some people do in their entire lifetime.”
“That’s it!” I thought.
Maybe the answer to all this lies even further back in time? All the way back to the summer that had inspired me to undertake this epic journey in the first place. All the way back to where North America meets the Pacific Ocean—the islands and glaciers and whales of Alaska.
All the way back to where this entire adventure began.

About the Author:

Iain Reading is passionate about Root Beer, music, and writing.  He is Canadian, but currently resides in the Netherlands working for the United Nations.  He has published 4 books in the Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency Series.

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We are happy to be a part of the Elemental Enchanters blog tour!  Be sure to check out Becca’s review and we’ve also posted the tour wide giveaway!

 Under a Blood Moon by Carrigan Richards
Publication Date: January 28th, 2014
Publisher:  Indie World Publishing & Author Services
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Book Synopsis:

Falling in love isn’t the only problem for Ava Hannigan.

When seventeen-year-old Ava discovers that she can breathe underwater, she’s

disappointed. She wanted to be normal and dreads the day of her initiation into one

of the most powerful covens of Elemental Enchanters. She has fallen in love with a

human, which is forbidden, but she has such a strong connection with Peter, the only

other person who knows what it’s like to grow up motherless.

Ava and her friends never expected to be caught up in the middle of a three-hundred-
year-old war. Devon wants revenge against the humans for killing his master. Xavier,

a ruthless witch, is building an army for Devon by spellbinding several students into

becoming dark Enchanters. After Xavier realizes Ava and her friends are Elementals,

Devon will stop at nothing to have their power. Xavier threatens Ava, attempting to

coerce her to join them, but when she refuses, he kidnaps Peter.

Ava must seek help from her coven to defeat Devon and accept her life as a witch in

order to save Peter and protect the humans.

Giveaway:

A signed paperback of both Under A Blood Moon and Under the Burning Stars.  Second prize is an ebook copy of each.

The paperbacks are for US only, and the ebooks are international.

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//widget.rafflecopter.com/load.jsThe sequel to Under A Blood Moon is entitled Under the Burning Stars and was released July 21st, 2014! Be sure to add both these books to your goodreads!

Be sure to check out Carrigan Richards on Goodreads and follow her on Facebook and Twitter!

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“My name is Ashallyn’darkmyr Tallyn, third son of the Unseelie Court…Let it be known–from this day forth, I vow to protect Meghan Chase, daughter of the Summer King, with my sword, my honor, and my life. Her desires are mine. Her wishes are mine. Should even the world stand against her, my blade will be at her side. And should it fail to protect her, let my own existence be forfeit. This I swear, on my honor, my True Name, and my life. From this day on…” His voice went even softer, but I still heard it as though he whispered it into my ear. “I am yours.”
― Julie Kagawa, The Iron Queen

Megan Chase and her friend Puck go into the fairy world(Nevermore) to rescue her younger brother that has been kidnapped.  While traveling through the wyldwood, they are chased by Ash and they barely escape.  Megan sees Ash again at the Elysium.  It is held at the castle of the seelie court.  Megan is the daughter of Oberon and Ash is the son of Mab.  To show respect, Megan dances with Ash.  In the end, Megan promises to turn herself over to the unseelie court and in exchange, Ash will help to get her brother back.

Ashallyn’darkmyr Tallyn is the true name of Ash.  He is the youngest son of the Winter Queen, Mab and is prince of the Winter Court.  He has two older brothers, Sage and Rowan.  He is a strikingly handsome man with thick black hair, silver eyes, and pale skin.  He is tall, lean, and muscular.  Megan first describes him as looking cold, hard, and inhuman.  Later she describes him as a handsome inhuman faery that is a daredevil and very loyal to those he loves.  He has a strong  winter glamour and is a formidable swordsman.   Ash is often cold and mysterious.  He rarely expresses emotion and it is hard to know what he is thinking.  He can totally close off his facial expressions, appearing blank and unreadable.  He learned this from the winter fey,  who consider emotions a major weakness.  He is a fairly loyal person and true to his word.

Now we ask the question: Friend or Foe?

Does the character do things that have good consequences? or bad consequences?

It depends on where his loyalties lie.  When he was loyal to Mab, he did what he was ordered to do and many of those things had bad consequences.  But Mab is his mother and he was raised to be cold and inhuman.  He does however, agonize over the bad things he has done.  Ash gradually changes after meeting Megan.  He allows himself to feel again and starts making better choices.  So the answer is yes to both questions.  He has done things that have good consequences and bad consequences.

Do they perform acts for personal gain or to help others?

Ash doesn’t do things for personal gain.  He does them out of loyalty to others.  First to his mother and then later to Megan and Puck.  Although he would never admit to doing anything for Puck.

Are their personality traits noble and with good intent?

Many of his personality traits are very noble.  He is loyal to those that he loves and would fight to the death for them, if necessary.  Because of his upbringing, he finds it very hard to let others into his life.  If you should betray him, It will be a very long time before he would forgive you, if ever.  Puck found this out the hard way.  He accidentally caused the death of Ash’s first love.  Although, Ash did eventually forgive him.

Is the character dishonest?

No, he is true to his word as all fairies are.

Does the character only consider their own interests?

No, as I said before, he would do anything for those that he loves.  He always puts their interests first.

Does the character permit selfless acts?

Yes, Ash can be very selfless in his attempts to protect those that he loves.

If the character does something with bad consequences, were they taking a risky action that could have good consequences, but they were willing to take the risk?

Ash is a daredevil and a risk taker.  If it is with his own life, he will take the risk, but if it is with the life of someone he loves, he would be a little more cautious.

Did the character feel guilty about their poor actions?

Yes, he does.  He is very hard on himself.

Does the character kill without thought or reason?

No, their is always a reason and he agonizes over it later.

Does the character do things out of revenge?

Yes, sometimes.  He tried to kill Puck on several occasions, because Puck was responsible for the death of his first love, even though it was an accident.

My thoughts:

Ash did some horrible things while he was loyal to his mother, but he changed after being with Megan.  I wont hold his past against him, because he didn’t know any better.  He became a good person.  I would consider him a friend.  How about you?

                                                       Dancing with Black

Quote 1:

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We are happy to be a part of the Dancing With Black Blog Tour! For three days we will be releasing teasers, reviews, and even a giveaway (ebook copy of Dancing With Black as well as a $10 amazon gift card)!!! So be sure to check Monday’s and Tuesday’s post as well!

Dancing With Black by Laura Bingham

Release Date: June 21st, 2014

Tour Dates: July 14th – August 14th

Genre: YA contemporary

Publisher: Trifecta Books

Tour Host: Silverbow Promotions

My Rating: 4/5

Every girl wants a guy who can whisk her off her feet.
Adam Black has a style that will whisk you into the air
and let your heart float for a while.
Dancing with Black is dancing with the one who sees more in you
than you could ever see in yourself.

Book Synopsis:

Dancing is Cami’s escape from her dark home life. It’s the only thing that gives her hope – until she meets Adam Black. A talented dancer in his own right, he asks Cami to be his partner, and she gains strength and confidence as he unlocks whole new possibilities for her. When Cami’s abusive mother overdoses and her already-broken family falls to pieces around her, dancing with Adam helps Cami pull through. But he has secrets of his own, and someone wants him found at any price. Cami gets dragged into a web of danger and deceit. Now she must make a choice between familiar darkness and uncertain light.

My thoughts on Dancing With Black:

I don’t want to say too much on the novel because we have a great review that will be posted August 12th. However I would like to mention how amazing this book is! Dancing With Black is unlike any book I have ever read! There’s dancing, a love story, dealing with family issues, and suspense/mystery. I highly recommend reading this book! And I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there’s a sequel because one book isn’t nearly enough of Adam and Cami! Laura Bingham is such a talented author! Her writing is exceptional! Don’t miss a chance to read this book!

Favorite Quote:

“Now is all I have. Later can never be trusted.”

― Laura Bingham, Dancing With Black

About the Author:

Laura Bingham

Author Bio:

Nearly a native of Idaho, I was born in Iowa and moved to Idaho at age four. I graduated from Ricks College with an Associates degree and from Boise State University with a Bachelor degree in Biology as well as certification to teach all science subjects in secondary education in the state of Idaho. Alvor is my first novel and was released May, 2009 and more books are on their way. In my backyard stands a dance studio where I teach youth of all ages the lesser known, but much loved sport of clogging. I live in Boise with my husband and five young children, including my own set of boy/girl twins. Since the release of Alvor, I have had the privilege of meeting so many great people, young and old alike. They have given me hope of breaking into the world with my book and making a career out of writing. One thing I can promise is that you haven’t seen the last of me yet. Alvor is just the beginning of my journey.

Author Links:

Facebook

Twitter

Blog

Website

Amazon

Don’t forget to check back for tomorrows Dancing With Black teaser and giveaway and also Tuesday’s book review! And be sure to add Dancing With Black to your goodreads!